Switch-stand



(No Model.) I

M. V. FITZGERALD.

- SWITCH STAND.

N0. 357,588. 7 Patentedfeb. 15,1887.

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at m NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

- SWITCH-STAN D.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 357,588, dated February 15, 1887.

Application filed December 9, 1886. Serial No. 221,112. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, MIOHAEL V. FITZGER- ALD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, Hampden county, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and use ful Improved Switch-Stand, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of stand automatically operated by the action of the car-wheel upon a split or movable switch, and also capable of being operated manually; and the invention consists in the combination and construction, as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure I is a sectional elevation of my improved stand. Fig. II is an elevation of the stand impartial section; and Figs. III, IV, and V are detail views.

B is a shell or case, adapted to be bolted to ties or other supports upon the surface of the ground, and adapted to furnish at its top and bottom journal-bearings b c, to the vertical crankshaft directly connected to the switch.

D is the crank-shaft, held to rotate in the case B, and provided with the crank d, as a point of attachment for one end of the connec-' tion, (not shown,) having its other end fast to the switch, so that the switch swings or throws with the rotation of shaft D, and vice versa.

E isalocking-piece, combined with shaft D, and with a tumbler or cam, F, thereon, so that the throw of the switch by the car-wheel will be limited by the configuration of said cam F, and so that the switch at the end of its throw will be locked by the part E, spring-pressed against the cam F.

G is a handle, adapted to move the shaft 'D vertically in the case B, to release the cam F from its locked position in part E.

H is a section of case B, connected at h to shaft D and to the rest of the case B, so that when the lever-handle G is swung to release the cam F the shaft D can be by said handle rotated to throw the switch manually, and can be locked by the restoration of cam F to its position in piece E by the return swing of said handle.

B is a section of the case locked to handle G, and consequently to shaft D,when the handle is not in use, as a means of manually operating a switch, and is adapted to rotate upon the rest of ,the case with shaft D when said shaft is rotated by the action of the car-wheel; and I is a target and lantern staff adapted to be rotated with and by the shaft D.

These general features of a switch-stand are old, and I make no claim thereto; but heretofore it has been necessary to have such a stand with all of its parts for each switch, and in a double switch these stands are required to he in such close proximity as to enable the switchman to operate both simultaneously, or nearly so. To obviate this expensive duplication of parts, as well as to do away with the confusion liable to occur from the two stands and signals, is the object of the present invention, which I accomplish as follows:

The locking-piece E, resting upon the bottom of the case B, and provided with a stem,

6, inclosed by a powerful spring, f, is provided with an upper and lower locking portion having space between them for two cams, F and J, to be moved in being released from the locking-shoulders of piece E. The cam F, as described, is upon the crankshaft D, connected with one switch, and the cam J, of similar configuration, as seen in Fig. V, is upon a crank-shaft, K, sleeved upon the one, D, the crank-arm t of which is connected to the outside of cam J, as shown, and is the point of attachment of the connection to a switch, as is crank d of shaft D. Both shafts D and K pass through elongated openings in piece E,'to permit the piece E to be slid by the action of cams F J when the switch is automatically thrown. The sleeve crank-rod K is hinged to a handle, L, hinged in turn to a section, B, of the case, so that when the handle is swung the cam J is lowered to rotate in piece E, and, being free to turn, can be oper ated by the handle to throw the switch.' The section B is adapted, as shown, to rotate, whether the shaft K is rotated automatically or otherwise, and may be an integral part of case B, as shown, or may be sleeved upon the true case. When opposite the pin h, connecting part H with shaft D, the wall of the sleeveshaft is partly cutaway, as seen in Fig. I, to permit shaft D an independent reciprocation and rotation.

It will be seen that either crankrod D K can be operated independently of the other by its handle or together by the two handles moving in the same direction and readily grasped together, and that they move equally well together or separately when operated automatieally.

If required, locking-pieces held against separate springs may be employed, though it is found that the weight of one switch will hold its cam in position in the case B, while the other cam is automatically rotated by the flange of a car-wheel. The sleeve-rod K is ex tended upward the length of the rod D when both cams F J' are in the position seen in Fig. I, and the target I is provided with a socket resting upon the squared end of sleeve K. Farther within the target another socket is adapted to inclose the corresponding end of rod D.

The cam J is adapted to be lowered, in proportion, one-half inch to rotate in piece E, to the elevation by its handle of cam Fin piece E three inches. This disproportion of movement enables the socket in the target to be so constructed, as shown, that the sleeve-shaft K may be lowered and operated and still retain and rotate the target and lantern, but so that the shaft D, when raised by its handle to a rotative position, takes the target with it,as seen in Fig. If. A sleeve below the sockets themselves prevents the target from leaving its position accidentally.

If it is desired to have two targets or lantern-holders, one may he fixed upon each of the shafts D K.

Fig. III is a plan view of the locking-piece E, showing a section of both shafts D K passing through the elongated opening in its top. Fig. IV is a partial section in plan, showing the cam J locked; and Fig. V shows the cam F at one-half of its automatic throw.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The within-described improved switchstand consisting of two crank-shafts, D K, provided with crank-arms and the usual connections therefrom to separate switches, arranged one within the other, to rotate upon a common axis and to reciprocateindependently of each other, provided with cams F J, combined and operating each against a spring locking-piece bearing to look its shaft and govern its automatic throw, a case, B, inclosing and seating the spring locking-surfaces and affording upper and lower journal-bearings for the shafts D K, and handles G L, connected, respectively, with shafts D K and case B and adapted to rotate with said shafts and he operative to rotate and. reciprocate them, all combined and operating as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In switch-stands, the combination, substantially as shown and described, of a case, B, spring locking-piece E, having the double locking-surfacesand intermediate space, two crankshafts, K D, sleeved the one upon the other and journaled in the case, a cam, J, upon shaft K, adapted to engage with the upper locking-surface of piece I], a cam, F, on shaft D, adapted to engage with thelower locking-surface of piece E, and two handles, L G, connected, respectively, to shafts K and D and to the case and adapted to rotate with said shafts and to be operative to reciprocate said shafts to release them from piece E, and to rotate them when so released.

3. In switch-stands, the combination, with two switch-operating crank-shafts arranged to be one sleeved upon the other, provided with operating-handles and locking devices and adapted to be reoiprocated and rotated relative to each other, substantially as shown and described, of an indicating target or lamp staff adapted, substantially as shown and described, to be combined with one until shifted to the other crank-shaft by the reciprocation of said shaft.

MICHAEL V. FITZGERALD.

\Vitnesses:

R. F. HYDE, L. H. PERKINS. 

